Right-Wing Populism and the Crisis of Organized Labor

Right-wing populism is a phenomenon deeply rooted in the US system. It tends to emerge in a virulent form during times of economic distress and crisis. It plays upon fears and prejudices and is integrally connected to matters of race. Bill Fletcher, Jr. will address the importance of understanding right-wing populism and the role that a renewed labor movement can play in combating this irrationalist and divisive force.

Bill Fletcher, Jr., is a longtime labor, racial justice and international activist. He is an Editorial Board member and columnist for BlackCommentator.com and a Senior Scholar for the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, DC. He is the immediate past president of TransAfrica Forum and a founder of the Black Radical Congress. Fletcher is the co-author (with Fernando Gapasin) of Solidarity Divided, The Crisis in Organized Labor and A New Path Toward Social Justice (University of California Press). He was formerly the Vice President for International Trade Union Development Programs for the George Meany Center of the AFL-CIO. Prior to the George Meany Center, Fletcher served as Education Director and later Assistant to the President of the AFL-CIO.

Fletcher got his start in the labor movement as a rank-and-file member of the Industrial Union of Marine and Shipbuilding Workers of America. Combining labor and community work, he was also involved in ongoing efforts to desegregate the Boston building trades. He later served in leadership and staff positions in District 65-United Auto Workers, the National Postal Mail Handlers Union, and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

 

Fletcher is a graduate of Harvard University and has authored numerous articles and speaks widely on domestic and international topics, racial justice and labor issues.